Elk Grove Village officials announced today that its opioid addiction prevention program, Elk Grove Village Cares, has received certification from the State of Illinois to train Village staff and public and private sector individuals on how to administer overdose-reversing medication to individuals who may be overdosing on opioids.

Elk Grove Village Cares is the Village’s comprehensive, community-based initiative to prevent heroin and opioid-related deaths and overdoses, get more addicts on the road to recovery, build a community of support for addicts and their loved ones and educating residents about devastating effects of opioid addiction.

As a key component of its strategy, the Village is working to place easy-to-use kits containing an overdose-reversal medication in dozens of public spaces, including schools, public buildings and places of business so that life-saving treatment is easily accessible. Administering Naloxone requires no special training or expertise, only the willingness to step in to help another in need. However, some basic training can educate individuals on recognizing symptoms of an opioid overdose, how the overdose-reversal drug works and how it should be applied.

“We are proud to be the first community in the Midwest working to assemble a program where overdose-reversal medication is readily available in public spaces so it can be used in a moment’s notice to prevent someone from dying of an opioid overdose,” said Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson. “As a first step to making the medication available, we want to train those people who are most likely to come to a fellow citizen’s aid. That’s why this certification is so crucial to our efforts to save lives and attack a problem that is impacting communities across the nation.”

The Village received certification through the Illinois Department of Human Services Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery. This state-level recognition allows Village police and fire personnel to train others on the use of Naloxone and to operate under the Illinois Department of Public Health's standing order to dispense and administer Naloxone.

So far, Village personnel have trained 51 individuals who are employed at public agencies and private businesses throughout the community.

By starting training now, the Village is better equipped to begin placing naloxone kits in public spaces and at private businesses. The deployment of these kits will begin in the coming weeks.

“We’re very eager to get this aspect of the program implemented because it means that we can save lives, which, ultimately, is what Elk Grove Village Cares is all about,” said Mayor Johnson.